Thursday, February 25, 2010

My trip to China ended with an eleven-hour flight back to Vancouver. We flew first to Hong Kong and then connected our flight to Vancouver. I arrived into Vancouver on 29 March. So as you can see, it’s already been 4 days since I ended my trip. I told myself to release the journal that I kept on the road, but my other half brain told me to hold. Yes, something went wrong here. What I kept in my journal does not match what I expected that I would write.

It seems that my trip to China brought me second cultural shock. I visited China four times since I left the country five years ago. Excluding the last visit, the previous three were either business type or out of family emergency. So, I should I say that this last visit was a real visit. And it brought me a reversed cultural shock, which I tried to deny but failed.

Shock One – Traffic Chaos

Believe it or not, I was pretty scared when crossing the road. It seems that the traffic signals in the city where I stayed didn’t really mean anything. People crossed the road when the red light was on, and so did the drivers. I had to drag my dear wife and my brave boy whenever we went across the roads. “Do as the Romans do!” I told them. The real question is “What happens when the Romans don’t?” I have no answer to that question.

Taking a taxi was another unique experience to me. I never realized it was so unique until I revisited the city. Here in the city that I lived, the drivers (not only the taxi drivers) were the “bravest” and the most --- drivers that I had ever seen. Almost none gave signals when making left and right turns. Miraculously, I didn’t see traffic accidents while I was there.

Shock Two – Sense of Privacy

I don’t mean to say that there was no privacy in China. But, what I experience in a notary public office made me wonder what privacy really meant to many people there. One day, I went into the office. Seeing people revealing their quite personal stories in front of many others made me uncomfortable… “Do as the Romans do” I told myself. So, I waited patiently and tried to avoid the sound coming from the person in front of the line. Then, I sensed that someone was peering through my shoulder and stared at the paper that I was holding. “Do as the Romans do” I murmured quietly. Moments later, my brother came and we discussed at the corner of the office with the documents open on the desk. Almost immediately, I saw a man was staring at the documents. His staring lasted (about 3 minutes) till I politely reminded him that it was a personal document and … My mouth dropped seeing him exploded at me, reminding me that it was a public place and he started just the desk not the document.

This incident made me remember what I went through when I visit doctors while I was living in the city. Whoever visited doctors knew that doctors questioned their patients in front of all the other patients or listeners. Quite embarrassing sometimes, I should admit, when you have to involuntarily take the intimate information of someone else, which you really don’t want to.

Shock Three – No Title

The city that I stayed is well known for having rivers running across the city. It should be a beautiful Venice if people living along the river knew how to restrain themselves from dumping the rubbish into the river. Constantly, I saw through internet of this-and-that type of regulations and by-laws have been implemented to prevent rivers from the pollution. Well, the reality shows a quite different view. Black colored material floating with sickening smells catches people’s eyes once they go across the bridge or walk along the river. One day from my ritual morning exercise, I reported to my brother-in-law of what I just discovered. “I saw a very neat slogan today,” I told my brother-in-law. “It’s about the way to prevent people from polluting the river,” I said. This is how it said: “Whoever dumps on the river should be cursed to be terminated, three generations included!”

Again, this reminded me the time while I stayed in the city. We kept our rooms clean, the inside of course, not the outside.

Note – this journal is totally out of my personal observation and does not reflect the views of this web-site. If you feel upset for what I wrote in this journal, please reply with facts. No personal attacks, please. As I said thousands of times, I am a Chinese, and I have Chinese blood, regardless of where I stay!

Nowadays, mobile phones are more and more common. When walking in the street, we can find the trail of mobile phones in all walks of life and all ages. Mobile phone is no longer just a thing for making phone calls. Text messaging, cellphonecams and even wi-fi have become new age icons. Furthermore, mobile phone has become the best method to express people's emotion. Do you remember the MTV 《The Deep Breath》 sang by Yu Quan? The boy told his feeling to the girl just by sending a short message“You are my 100 percent girl!”, at last they came together happily. Mobile phones, in this period which people are less and less good at expressing their emotions, suddenly become important.

However, owning a mobile-phone means owning annoyance. You can chat with your friends fluently; you certainly must pay for something. Every day you have to deal with the sufferings of deleting the waste messages, you also have to bear the explanation to people who dial the wrong number. I have ever answered six telephone-calls from six provinces in an afternoon, they want to connect with a decorating corporation in Fujian. It looks like that the corporation put out the wrong number in the ad. But I have to explain politely to them," Sorry, you dial the wrong number. This is a private phone in Hunan." all the time. Look, this is the nuisance taken by mobile phones.

Anyway, a coin has two sides. Since mobile phones can take you convenient and immediate services, they can unavoidably bring some vexation. If you do well with the relationship of them, it is actually not difficult for you to enjoy the pure delight brought by mobile phones.

hello dear friends,long time no see.these days,i`m busy to prepare for my new term.and i just got my class schedule.lots of subjects must be learned in this semester.oh,i have no choice but accept it.i`m a junior now.besides my regular studying ,i have to wait for some extra tasks in our lab.i konw i`m a lucky boy ,because i help my teacher do some projects of scientific research.but i always feel i don`t have enough time to do all the things.i aspire to the time very much.now i really understand when time is wasted ,life is wasted.in this semester, i also have to prepare for CET-6 and Computer Examination(3).oh,when all the things come to my mind the same time,i feel i have been another world.and it may drive me mad. oh,i really hate this semester. maybe this forum has become a place to let me have a relaxation.hi joyfulbird,i`m happy to see you here again.keep on practicing your english.you have a very good habit.if you have the perseverance ,i`m sure you will feel your progress.to solar,thank you for your encouragement.maybe you are right.i will never give up my dream,and i will study hard for my future.i`m sure i will have a bright future.and you and other friends have that too.to annie,i`m sorry i can`t translate that poem either.because my english level is also limited.it`s really hard tome.sorry you said you had a small toyshop.i think you may be fond of children very much. am i right?in fact,i like children very much.i like their innocence.i like their bright eyes.in my eyes,they are really cute.to victoria,your english is really amazing.and it is also very kind of you to give us lots of good advice to learn english.i think you will be a very great leader to lead us into a really Promised Land of English.thank you.i like reading your stories .i expect your reply sincerely.and hello eveyone,come on, i also expect your stories.have a good night.i give my best wishes to you ,my dear friends. my special contribution: Great hopes make great men. What pains us really trains us.

hi !everybody !i coming in !!i am glad to see you 1ity is true .see your reply is my improtant thing .hi !solar i am glad to see you again .thank you very your blessings .i believe i can .do you like traveling .could you teel me about Tibet? if i have free time i could go here .thank you my dear friend.!i enjoy traveling .what about you ?what do you lke .i you are a lovely and humor girl .good luch my lovely girl .victoria:do you often traveling ?could you tell me place which is beautifull sight ?if i am free i could go here .Jiuzhaigou of Sichuan ?Guilin?Sanya of Hainan?many beautifull place but i can not chose the best .jeff:are you busying ??or are you lost ??where are you ? i can not find ??!!haha the weekend are you free.?go on working ???Oh my god you are not lucky .please quick reply .

this weekend it is a good day do you think .my busness is very good .so i am very happy .anybody here ??do you go traveling ?OH!i am single !i think !!!haha !!!i miss you see you tomorrow!